Why did the PC find the intelligent sword?

[Neophyte42]

I read a few magic sword posts here while also reading "Be Awesome at Dungeon Design". I had this idea of a paladin falling to a lich, who decided to be spiteful and bind the spirit of the paladin to his own sword. So the sword has a drive to vanquish evil, and is especially irritated at said lich.

Knowing this, the lich bound the spirit of his necromancer apprentice (whom the paladin slayed on that fateful day) to the scabbard of the sword. This was primarily to prevent the sword from being drawn in the presence of the lich. After some time, the lich got bored looking at the sword on the mantle and decided to give the sword to some death knight general, enjoying the idea of the paladin's sprit feeling the torment of the massacre of the innocent.

This was my first thought when I asked, "Why did the sword end up where the PCs found it?" My next step is to further flesh out the history of the blade, perhaps adding relevant powers as said history runs its course.

What are some of the histories of significant items in your campaigns?

[AlexanderHowl]

Always leave intelligent magical items behind, they are nothing but trouble. The only thing worse is an AI...

[coronatiger]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Always leave intelligent magical items behind, they are nothing but trouble. The only thing worse is an AI...

Agreed. However, you can have a sword infused with the spirit of said paladin and the sword could grant thematic powers to the wielder. The PCs could even try to disinfuse the spirit from the sword to finally give a peaceful rest to the paladin. The trouble starts when the sword begins acting on its' own, including thinking and speaking.

[Rupert]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Always leave intelligent magical items behind, they are nothing but trouble. The only thing worse is an AI...

That's why such items should be required for the next step in the adventure, and/or their true nature should be concealed. In the OP's example the scabbard being so opposed to the sword (expect possibly also being irritated with the lich) could result in their auras cancelling, making the intelligences undetectable with magic, or at least basic detection magic such as might be used on a treasure haul in a dungeon.

As for AI, I got round player aversion by putting into their ride (a starship), and as it was about the highest performance starship they were ever likely to get their hands on, they just lived with the snarky commentary. Currently they have no starship, but the AI remains, following them round as a disembodied spirit.

[ericthered]

Originally Posted by AlexanderHowl

Always leave intelligent magical items behind, they are nothing but trouble. The only thing worse is an AI...

And what, from a GM perspective, is wrong with an intelligent magic item that isn't a pain in the butt? Do we look at them as a way to deny the player the magic item, or at least make them choose whether they want it or not? Do we treat NPC's who adventure with the party as universally being trouble? I don't know the answers to those questions, but they're worth asking.



A soul bound to a sword as a punishment isn't going to have much ability to influence things. The necromancer scabbard, on the other hand, is likely going to have a lot in the way of usable powers.



If you just want a long history for the sword (which seems to be what you want), we can certainly brainstorm ideas for you:


The Death Knight General took the sword with him in his attempt to conquer a neighboring kingdom. The General was defeated in battle by the heroes of the kingdom in a massive pitched battle. The sword was unable to communicate at this point, and passed into the kingdom's treasury. While in there, it corrupted a young courtier, teaching him necromancy. The kingdom fell in a great coup to the courtier. The necromancer told the courtier all about the sword's history, and thus the fate of the Paladin was discovered when the usurper was defeated.

[jason taylor]

Originally Posted by Neophyte42

I read a few magic sword posts here while also reading "Be Awesome at Dungeon Design". I had this idea of a paladin falling to a lich, who decided to be spiteful and bind the spirit of the paladin to his own sword. So the sword has a drive to vanquish evil, and is especially irritated at said lich.

Knowing this, the lich bound the spirit of his necromancer apprentice (whom the paladin slayed on that fateful day) to the scabbard of the sword. This was primarily to prevent the sword from being drawn in the presence of the lich. After some time, the lich got bored looking at the sword on the mantle and decided to give the sword to some death knight general, enjoying the idea of the paladin's sprit feeling the torment of the massacre of the innocent.

This was my first thought when I asked, "Why did the sword end up where the PCs found it?" My next step is to further flesh out the history of the blade, perhaps adding relevant powers as said history runs its course.

What are some of the histories of significant items in your campaigns?

1. The sword wants to be found. The PC is chosen to lead the fight against the Evil Overlord.

2. The PC spends more time graverobbing then is good for him.

3. They found an ancient ruin

4. Some mage has a weird idea of practical jokes.

[Maz]

Originally Posted by Neophyte42

I had this idea of a paladin falling to a lich, who decided to be spiteful and bind the spirit of the paladin to his own sword. So the sword has a drive to vanquish evil, and is especially irritated at said lich.

Knowing this, the lich bound the spirit of his necromancer apprentice (whom the paladin slayed on that fateful day) to the scabbard of the sword. This was primarily to prevent the sword from being drawn in the presence of the lich.

Had this been D&D it would result in the sword (in scabbard) reading as "Evil", while drawn it would read as "Good". That's a pretty neat gimmic. :)

Btw. is there anything preventing people from just tossing the scabbard and getting a new one? Perhaps the sword actually draws some of it's powers from the scabbard (maybe recharging abilities that are necromantic such as compel undeads, dectect undeads or similar).

[The Colonel]

The archetypal intelligent sword to my recollection was Stormbringer - other connoisseurs of early fantasy literature can probably recall others of similar "source" vintage. That was certainly not a good model for something you want in a roleplaying campaign - but got kitchen sinked into "that RPG" and became a core trope in fRPGs as a result.

However thematically cool it might be in literature for a sword to have its own agenda - let alone hijack the protagonist - your players will probably hate you for it in a game. The alternative - a sword which is merely either silly or annoying is scarcely better and smacks of kid-and-robot sci-fi.

But if you can figure out a way to make it work with your group, why not?

[Fred Brackin]

Originally Posted by The Colonel

The archetypal intelligent sword to my recollection was Stormbringer - other connoisseurs of early fantasy literature can probably recall others of similar "source" vintage. T

Not off-hand. Stormbringer is probably "it" for powerful and self-willed magic swords. Though in rpg context there are few examples of swords that are "powerful" compared to Stormbringer. They're usually not quite as evil but they are also far less powerful.

_Named_ swords you can find plenty off in old Norse and Germanic literature and from their to the court of Charlemagne (lots) and Arthurian legend (a few). However, while a couple of these are cursed they don't genrally talk or engage in battles of wills with their users.

[The Colonel]

Originally Posted by Fred Brackin

Not off-hand. Stormbringer is probably "it" for powerful and self-willed magic swords. Though in rpg context there are few examples of swords that are "powerful" compared to Stormbringer. They're usually not quite as evil but they are also far less powerful.

_Named_ swords you can find plenty off in old Norse and Germanic literature and from their to the court of Charlemagne (lots) and Arthurian legend (a few). However, while a couple of these are cursed they don't genrally talk or engage in battles of wills with their users.

Quite, despite what Bronn says, all sorts of people named their swords but Stormbringer (and its multiversal echoes) are the only ones that truly had a personality. And, given the thaumatology of Moorcock's works, Stormbringer was probably a demon bent into the shape of a sword anyway.